Dursley's Daughter (A Harry Potter Next Generation Fan Fic)

15. Next Generation

She ignores me. "I have the story, now I'm on the case. I'd recommend eating some more bacon, Esther. Don't cut back on breakfast because of your emotional strain."

Before I could argue with her, Holly jumped up from the table, nearly tripping over the bench as she ran across the hall again, this time skidding to a stop in front of the Slytherin table and scanning their heads. I groaned and put my head in my hands. Holly was taking things too far, and now at least three houses were aware that there was some kind of drama going on.

Claudette was no longer pretending not to be paying attention. She leaned towards me as Holly stood on the tips of her toes, still searching among the Slytherins. "Who is she looking for?" Claudette asked in a whisper.

"Scorpius," I said.

"Malfoy?"

"That's the one."

"I didn't know you were dating Scorpius."

"That's because I'm not," I said.

"Is he one of the nicer Slytherins?"

I frowned at that. "He's a nice person, yes, but I don't think one's niceness is something that has anything to do with one's house."

Claudette shrugged and then perked up. "Oh, Holly found him!"

We watched Holly push her hair behind her ear and saunter over to where Scorpius was sat. He looked up at her, frowned, and then looked across the room to me. I put my hand up and gave him a small wave. Confused, he waved back, and then spoke with Holly. She was gesticulating emphatically and maybe I was paranoid, but I thought I could almost pick out her voice among the hundreds of chattering Hogwarts students.

"Can you read their lips or something?" Claudette asked. Then she turned red. "Sorry to be interfering, Esther. I'll be quiet now."

"It's okay," I said. Thanks to Holly, quite a lot of people were learning the story, anyway.

I met up with Holly outside the hall several minutes later. She was bouncing up and down.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome," she said brightly. "But you don't even know what I've done for you yet!"

"I was being sarcastic."

Holly frowned. "Well. I'm only trying to help you."

"I know, but now a whole lot of people are going to know what's going on."

"Trust me, Esther, this isn't that interesting. Some Gryffindor will set fire to the potions room tomorrow or a first year will get turned into a bat for a joke. Simple relationship issues are commonplace. Muggle stuff, and I mean that in the nicest possible way."

"Okay," I said. "Now, before I die of anxiety, what were you talking with Scorpius about?"

"Just what happened last night. A good detective doesn't rely on only one witness." She grins. "I learned that from those mystery books you got me for Christmas last year."

"This isn't a murder case."

"I'm trying to put together the facts, Essie. You need a third...no, fourth party to clear this up. Sawyer's uncooperative, Scorpius is cocky and sure that he's in the right, and you're no good with this sort of thing."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "How many times are you going to insult me in this conversation?"

"I'm not trying to, I promise. Look, you want this fixed, right? I'm your friend and I'm Sawyer's friend, so I'll mediate between the two of you. Focus on Quidditch or something."